Elastic-fluid turbine



Dec. 17,1929. R. G. sTANDr-:RWICK 1,740,379

ELASTIG FLUID TURBINE Filed Oct. 5. 1927 Invenuor- Reginald@.Sbanclerwick,

His Abner-'neg- Patented Dec. 17, 1929 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEREGINALD G. STANDERWICK, F MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSlE"1l"ILS,l ASSIGNOR TOGEN- ERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK ELASTIC-'FLUIDTURBINE Appneaaon 1aed october l5, i927. serial No. 224,245.

The present invention relates to elastic fluid turbines and especiallyto elastic fluid' improved regulating means which, while be-A ing`simple in structure, operates to maintain stable governing of themachine, and for a consideration of what I believe to be novel and myinvention, attention is directed to the accompanying description and theclaims appended thereto. M

The more usual application of the invention is in connection withextraction turbines,

` that is, turbines wherein elastic fluid is withdrawn from anintermediate stage for some purpose such as, for example, industrialheating. Accordingly, I have herein specifically illustrated anddescribed the invention in this environment. It is to be underfrom thedrawing and the following description.

Referring to the lower right hand portion" of the drawing, 1 indicatesthe casing at the high pressure end of an elastic fluid turbine;`

2 indicates the first'stage wheel, and 3 indicates the `first stagenozzles. Elastic fluid is supplied to the turbine through a conduit t.

Associated with conduit 4 is a valve means 5j for regulating the flow ofelastic fluid t-o the turbine. `In the ,present instance, the valve'means is shown diagrammatically as being a ton 28 which moves in acylinder 29.

single valve. It is to be understood, however, that'this is intended torepresent any suitable valve gear. Valve means 5 is connected by a stem6 to a lever 7 pivoted at one end on a fixed support 8. The other end oflever 7 engages a cam 9 carried on a. shaft 10. On shaft 10 is a gearwheel 11 which meshes with a rack 12, on the upper end of the stem 13 ofa fluid actuated motor. 14 indicates the cylinder of the motor; 15indicates the piston 16` indicates a spring which normally biases thepiston toward the lower end of the cylinder and hence valve means 5toward closed position, and 17 indicates the pilot valve.

The stein of pilot valve 17 is connected to a lever 18 which at itsright hand end is pivot ed on rod 18 and at its left end is pivoted toone end of a governor lever 19 fulcrumed on a fixed support 20.Connected to governor lever 19 is a speed governor 21 which is suitablydriven from the turbine shaft.

The construction so far described represents the high pressure speedcontrol valve gear of an elastic fluid turbine. rIhe operation of such avalve gear is well understood. When the speed of the turbine increases,speed governor 21 raises pilot valve 17 permitting actuatingfluid toescape from beneath piston 15 effecting a closing of valve means 5,while "when the speed of theJ turbine decreases speed governor 21 lowerspilot valve 17 thereby admitting actuating fluid beneath the piston 15to open the valve means 5. The arrangement illustrated comprises a usualform of follow poses such as for heating purposes. 24 indicates t-hevalve, termed usually a ring valve, which controls the flow of elasticfluid from the extraction stage to the next lower stage ofthe turbine.On its upper portion it is provided with a gear segment 25 which mesheswith a rack `26 connected by a rod 27 to a pis- 30 indicates'a Vpilotyvalve for controlling the supply of actuating fluid to cylinder 29. Thestern of' pilot valve 30 is connected to a lever 31 which at its lowerend is connected through a link 32 to a stem 33 connected to pist-on'28,link 32 being pivoted at 34 on a stationary support.

The upper end of lever 3l is connected to a link 35 which in turn isconnected by a bell crank lever 36 to a stem 37 of a pressure responsivedevice 33. `Bell crank lever 36'is pivoted at its elbow on a fixedbracket 39. Pressure responsive device 38 is here. shown as being in theform of a corrugated bellows 40 mounted in a casing 4l, it being rigidlyconnected at its upper end totliefcasing.l The lower end of bellows 40is connected to stem 37. 42 is a stop to limit the amount of' upwardmovement oi' bellows40, Vand 43 is a suitable spring which operates in adirection to oppose the collapsing of the bellows. The compression ofspring 43 can be adjusted so as to set the. spring at the desired valueby an adjustable nut 43a. Casing 4l is connected by a pipe 44 toextraction conduit 23. It will thus beV seen that bellows 40 issubjectfto the extraction stage pressure and that when such stagepressure increases, bellows 40 is col-v lapsed somewhat thereby niovingstem 37 upward against the action of spring 43, whileV when the stagepressure decreases, spring 43 acts to move stein37 downward and distendthe bellows. f

When stein 37 moves upward it turns bell crank lever 36 therebyactuating pilot valvel 30 and effecting operation ofpiston 23 .in adirection to open somewhat ring valve 24,

which serves to decrease the pressure in thel extraction stage while.when stem 37 moves downward it operates the pilot valve in a directionto close somewhat ring valve 24, there-l by serving to increase thepressure in the extraction stage.

An extraction stage valve and pressure-responsive regulating meanstherefor of' the.

type shown is more particularly illustrated in the patent to Norton,1,091,078, March 24,.

In connection with an elastic fluid turbine equipped with a highpressure valve means responsive to one operating condition of theturbine andan extraction stage valve means Y responsive to the pressureof the extraction stage, it has been found in certain applications thatthe regulation obtained is not sui"- ficiently close on account of thetime lag required f'or the respective regulating means to react uponeach other. V For example, if the soon as this happens the increase inthe extraction stage pressure effects an opening movement of the. stagevalve. I-Iowever, there may be some lag and also in cases where theregulating means are set close there may result more or less hunting orirregularity in the operation of the machine. p

More particularly the object of my invention is to provide in connectionwith an elastic fluid turbine equipped with extraction mechanism, i asimple means whereby the above referred ,to difficulties are overcomeandV tothis end I provide a connection between tlie high pressure valvegear of the elastic fluidturbine and the pressure actuated extractionvalve gear whereby Athe setting of' one of them is modified bytheposition of the other and preferably the setting ofthe extractionpressure valve gear is iii-odified in accordance with the position ofthe high pressure valve gear. According to the embodiment of myVinvention illustrated in the drawing, I provide a spring4 45 which isconnected so as to operate on the pressureresponsive device 38, it beingin the present instance connected to one end of link 35,'and I thenconnect such spring tothe high pressure valve gear so that its tensionyis increased and decreased in accordance with the position of' the highpressure valve gear. In the Vpresent instance, spring 45 is shown asbeing connected by a rod 46, bell crank lever 47, and rod 48 to lever 7.Bell cranklever 47 is pivoted on a fixed bracket 48 and is provided witha series of openings 49 in its arm whereby the connection between sucharm and rod 48 may be adjusted. n 1

From the above described arrangement, it will be seen that whenever theposition of valve means 5 is changedthe tension-of spring 45 is changed,the tension of the spring be- Y ing increased as valve means 5 opens andbeing decreased as valve means 5 closes. TWith this arrangementwhenevervalve means 5 moves toward open position the increased tension on spring45 reacts through bell crank lever 36 and stem 37, tending to effect acollapsing movement of bellows 40. This in ef'- fect amounts tomodifying the setting of spring 43 in tliatspring 45 acts in oppositionto spring 43 so that when the tension of spring 45 increases theeffective action of spring 43 on bellows 44 is decreased. Y As aresult,l therefore, whenever valve means 5 opens somewhat, the settingof pressure-responsive device 33 is modified to effect immediately anopening movement of ringpvalve 24. Ring valve 24 is opened thereforewhen valve means 5 opens to admit more elastic fluidfto the Vtowardclosed position, the setting of pressure-responsive device 38 ismodified to effeet a closing movementof ring valve 24 withllO iii

out first waiting for the pressure in the extraction stage to decrease.On the other hand, however, the ring valve is free to be opened andclosed through the pressure-responsive device 38, upon change in the eX-traction pressure. As is Well understood, such a change may be effectedby a change in the demand for extracting elastic fluid.

Thus it Will be seen that by the simple interconnection shown I providea mechanism whereby Whenever the high pressure valve means of theelastic fluid turbine is adj usted, the ring valve means is alsoadjusted before any change in pressure in the extraction stage occurs,the change in the extraction stage pressure being anticipated. As aresult, closer and more even regulation of the turbine a Whole isobtained.

llfhile I have illustrated and described the ring valve as beingcontrolled in response to changes in the pressure of the extractedelastic fluid, this being the more usual arrangement it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited thereto, as the ring valvemay be cont-rolled by some other operating condition of theinstallation, such as temperature, for example.

In accordance With the provisions of the patent statutes, I havedescribed the prin-V ciple of operation of my invention, together Withthe apparatus I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof.but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown anddescribed is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried outb v other means.

llfhat I claim as nen7 and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is:

1. The combination with an elastic fluid turbine having a valve gear forcontrolling the supply of elastic fluid to the turbine and a valve gearfor controlling the elastic fluid at an intermediate point in theturbine, said second named valve gear comprising` governing means forpositioning it in accordance with an operating condition appurtenant tothe turbine. of means for modifying the setting of said governing meansin accordance with the position of said first-named valve gear.

2. The combination With an elastic fluid turbine having a valve gear forcontrolling the supply of elastic fluid to the turbine, valve means forcontrolling the elastic fluid at an intermediate stage in the turbine,and governing means for positioning said valve means in accordance withan operating condition appurtenant to the turbine, of means actuated bythe position of said valve gear for modifying the setting of saidgoverning means.

. 3. The combination with an elastic fluid turbine having a conduitconnected with an intermediate stage through Which elastic fluid may beWithdrawn from or supplied to the turbine, of valve means controllingthe supply of elastic fluid to the turbine, valve means controlling theflow of elastic fluid at said intermediate stage, a pressure-responsivedevice for positioning said stage valve means, and means actuatedautomatically by movement of said first named valve means for modifyingthe setting of said pressureresponsive device in accordance with theposition of said first-named valve means.

Ll. The combination With an elastic fluid turbine having a conduitconnected With an intermediate stage through which elastic fluid may beWithdrawn from or supplied to the turbine, of valve means controllingthe supply of elastic fluid to the turbine, valve means controlling theflow of elastic fluid at said intermediate stage, a pressure responsivedevice for positioning said stage valve means, an adjustable si ring forvarying the pressure at which said pressure-responsive device acts, andmeans actuated automatically by movement of said first named valve meansfor n'iodifying the setting of said spring in accordance with theposition of said firstnamed valve means. i

5. The combination With an elastic fluid turbine having a valve meansfor controlling the supply of elastic fluidto the turbine, a governorfor positioning said valve means, a valve means for controlling theelastic fluid at an intermediate point in the turbine, and a governorfor positioning said lastnamed valve means, of means for modifying thesetting of one of said governors in accordance with the position of theother valve means.

6. The. combination with an elastic fluid turbine having a valve gearfor controlling the supply of elastic fluid to the turbine and a valvegear for controlling the elastic fluid at an intermediate point in theturbine, each of said valve gears comprising governing means forpositioning it in accordance With an operating condition appurtenant tothe turbine, of means for modifying the setting of one of said governingmeans in accordance With the position of the other valve gear.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this lirst day ofOctober, 1927.

RVEGINALD Gr. STANDERWICK.

